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Wednesday, 12 August 2009

  • THE down under

    Linguistic note for the day: the word THE seems to pop up many places my American-English brain would not put it. The editor in me wants to correct the usage. In the past few days, I've heard it used in these settings, and it seemed strange to me:

    1. In sports, people cheer: "Go the Waratahs!!" (not, "Go Waratahs!")

    2. In Bible study, we talked about prophets who were "post-the-exile" (not, "post-exile")

    3. And on the classical radio station, it was announced that they would play "that pinnacle of the Romantic movement, Bruckner's the Third Symphony." (not, "Bruckner's Third Symphony)

    Does this seem strange to anyone else?


Thursday, 30 July 2009

  • Week on the farm!

    As M and I are both teachers, we get to enjoy having breaks at the same time! For our recent semester break (think Christmas break without Christmas - it's just Winter Break!) we went to M's family farm, way up in the extreme north part of the state. It was a little like driving to Florida - the days were really warm! It was perfect weather - we could have picnics during the day, and then at night it got cold enough that we could enjoy having a roaring fire in the woodstove heat up the farmhouse.

    Here's the farm. Isn't it pretty? They've got lots of groves of macadamia trees.


    Here's the farmhouse. Yes, it really has a tree growing in the middle of it. (Well, it was sort of built around the tree, but the end effect is the same.) Those tanks in front are rainwater tanks. That's all the water they use!


    This isn't the farmhouse - it's just the shed. But I liked the picture.


    And here's a picnic we had!


    It was so refreshing to get away from the city for a week and just relax. The countryside is gorgeous - and the fresh air, warm weather, and beautiful surroundings really were invigorating. I can't wait to go back!


Wednesday, 29 July 2009

  • Boofy boys!

    At a dinner party last night, a girl came from the other end of the table to sit down by me and a few other women. She said she wanted to come talk to us girls and get away from the "boofy boys."

    "Boofy?"
    "You know, blokey."

    One of the guys helpfully explained that it was short for "boofhead".

    I never did get an exact definition, but it seems that the descriptor evokes something of the rugby-playing, beer-drinking, thick-headed male culture. (Not to imply that our fellow diners were thick-headed!)

    In any case, we had a lovely girly conversation down at our end of the table. :)


Tuesday, 28 July 2009

  • Hunter Valley Weekend

    We spent a lovely weekend up in the Hunter Valley, to celebrate my dear husband's birthday. We did a pasta-making course at a local winery, along with his parents, where we learned to make some yummy things! Here are the chefs at work.


    Here is the lovely setting. The winery is beautiful even in winter!


    Of course then we got to eat our creations, alfresco, and accompanied by local wines. Here M is enjoying the dessert of stewed figs.


    We stayed in a little village not far away. Here's the church in the village:


    And here's the gorgeous B&B where we stayed:


    ...complete with breakfast on the verandah! (Yes, even though it's winter! They had little outdoor heaters by each table. Winter doesn't stop - or even slow down - the outdoor culture here.)


    More pics from around the B&B:


    M's birthday dinner at the B&B:


    And the obligatory sunset-in-the-countryside picture:


    It was a delightful weekend!!

Friday, 03 July 2009

  • Dressing for winter

    I don't get winter here at all. For starters, I have no idea how to dress. Today, it's in the high 60's and sunny outside, but inside it's a lot colder! I need to wear my long johns and heavy sweaters just to be comfortable. But then when I go outside, I wish I had a T-shirt on! It's a bit disconcerting. I guess houses here are built to stay cool in summer, whereas where I come from, houses are built to stay warm in winter.

    We had a women's day at church last Saturday. All the ladies started off having morning coffee outdoors on the church lawn, happily chatting away in the sunshine, and then when we all filed into the church, everyone put on their coats and scarves to sit through the talks in the freezing indoors of the church. And nobody batted an eyelash.

    Something inside me screams that this is not the way it is meant to be! It's like being trapped in some dream where everything is backwards - a parallel universe where everything's gone horribly wrong but nobody seems to notice. Everyone just waltzes through their normal lives as if it were the most natural thing in the world to have winter in July and of course you put on your coat when you go inside. You take off your coat when you come outside.

    I suppose I will get used to this some day, but for now, it just seems wrong.
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YannieDownUnder

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    • Member Since: 3/16/2009

About Me

  • A former nomad leaving my traipsing-about-the-globe ways behind me. An American learning to swim in Australian culture. A lover of Jesus, of music, of physics, and of language.

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